Grants

Search or browse below to see past Field of Interest grants. You may search by recipient organization name, project name, or city. Additionally, in the sidebar you may filter the grants displayed by year, interest or grant amount.

Vancouver Chinese Instrumental Music Society

Musical Transformations: Our Story (working title)

Performed at the Norman Rothstein Theatre, this concert will be a reflection and examination of immigration and diaspora of Chinese music in Vancouver. Facilitating an understanding of Vancouverâ€™s diverse identities and representing a cultural group with such presence in Vancouver, this performance will feature Canadaâ€™s very first professional Chinese instrumental music group. The nightsâ€™ repertoire takes audiences through the evolution of Chinese music starting with traditional influences brought by the influx of Chinese immigration during the 1970s. The first section highlights classical folk styles, pieces that demand a mastery of technique. These tunes often have philosophical associations, which will be addressed by our MC Dr. Jan Walls. Following will be a selection of rearranged works that have extracted elements from both eastern and western practices. In the third section, the ensemble will perform Canadian commissioned pieces for Chinese Instruments. Progressing through the development of contemporary music will provide a look at where Chinese music is headed in Vancouver.

$6,000.00

2012

Vancouver Coastal Health Authority

Community Based Research Centre for Concurrent Disorders
(Researchers: N/A)

This project will develop methods to measure clinical outcomes via the collection, analysis and interpretation of quantitative and qualitative data gathered at Stepping Stones Concurrent Disorders Service primarily, and then sister agencies on the North Shore.
That being said, it is hope that this grant will enable the investigators at the Stepping Stones to conduct outreach and field work throughout the North Shore in order to engage the many stakeholder who work with individuals struggling with concurrent disorders.
The end result of this project is to create a Community Based Research Centre for Concurrent Disorders.
(Research Team: N/A)

$3,575.00

2014

Downtown Vancouver Youth Housing and Health Services Collaboratory

The Youth Housing and Health Services Collaboratory is an action-oriented project to engage key stakeholders involved in delivering health and housing resources to youth in downtown Vancouver. The 'collaboratory' will be a problem-solving group working to address barriers and challenges that youth 16-24 face accessing housing and health services. A parallel youth engagement process will inform the trajectory of the project and we will strive to make a meaningful difference in the experience of youth who seek resources related to housing and health. In order to improve access and flow-through for youth to a wider range of resources, agency representatives who are excited to, and capable of working as part of a collaborative team, and have a high level of management over the resources attached to the agency, will be invited to participate. Phase one will be a convened dialogue to ensure the group is aligned and 'on the same page'. Barriers to collaboration will be identified and addressed. Phase two will be a pilot of a mechanism to smooth access pathways to care and housing.

$23,500.00

2014

Vancouver Community College Foundation

Mentorship Program for Aboriginal Children In the Vancouver School District

We are requesting support to establish a Pilot Mentorship Program in 8 Vancouver School Board Schools-4
elementary feeder schools and 4 high schools-with significant Aboriginal student populations. Approximately 220
students will be involved. The Pilot Mentorshlp Program will begin in the Fall of 2013 and continue through to the
end of the school year (June 2014) at which time it will be evaluated with the goal of continuation in the
Vancouver District for a total of 3 years prior to expansion to other strategic areas in BC.
The key elements of the Mentorship Program are:
-recruitment of Aboriginal Mentors with teaching experience
-mentorship in course materials, study habits, life skills and career planning
-use of both 'one on one' and group models where appropriate
-involvement of the Aboriginal Community
-emphasis on helping students effectively transition from Elementary School to High School and Primary levels to
Intermediate levels.
-inculcation of career planning and work experience throughout the Mentorship Program
-successful retention to high school graduation

$124,300.00

2013

Vancouver Fringe Festival

Diversity and Inclusion Audit and Planning Project

With assistance we’ll engage a Diversity and Inclusion specialist to do workshops with staff, board, and artists. The goal will be to ensure leadership acknowledge and examine personal and organizational biases and that we begin to understand the barriers for under represented artists.
In conducting this audit, we seek to understand our diversity deficits. We’ll start by classifying participation in recent Fringes, asking the following questions and more: How many artists were people of colour? What percentage was this of all participants? How do they learn about the Fringe? How many artists of colour can we identify that would be possible participants? What are the barriers? Cost? Different production culture? Language? Lack of information on how the Fringe works?
The audit will be socially innovative by examining power structures and to redistribute opportunity to those who may not be able to access it. By understanding why Vancouver’s diversity is not reflected in the Fringe, we seek to change. Once we know what the barriers are, we can address them. While this project aims to serve the needs of artists of colour, the more diverse the content on our stages is, the more diverse the audience—and the exposure to different cultures engenders higher levels of cross cultural understanding and dialogue.

$10,000.00

2016

Vancouver Independent Theatre

Vancouver Independent Theatre is a collective marketing initiative. In the first year we will partner with 5 or 6 small theatre companies based in Vancouver, and promote their work as a collective. We will be building a website. smartphone app, social media presence, and e-mail newsletter to promote partner companies throughout the year. We will use these platforms to execute a content marketing campaign, profiling members & their productions through written content as well as short-form videos.
The website will also serve as a centre for buying tickets for all our partner's productions. By acting as the ticketing agent in addition to being a promoter, we will be able to use sales data to create customized promotions based on an individual's theatre preferences and buying behaviour. We will also create subscription packages to drive patrons' frequency of attending theatre, and to boost advance sales. We will also run will-call and at-door ticket sales for our member companies.

$25,000.00

2014

Vancouver Homework Club Society

Youth Engagement Project (YEP)

Working with students identified as at high risk of dropping out of school, the project has six elements:
1) engaging on a one to one basis with the students and their parents, working to keep the students in school and attending class;
2) bringing the students to the Homework Club three days a week for a minimum of six hours, providing access to Homework Club tutors and to hot meals served at the Club;
3) working with the students, using approved remediation programs, to develop their literacy and numeracy skills;
4) meeting with the students monthly over dinner to review their progress, plan for the month ahead and create supportive relations between the students in YEP and with the YEP workers.
5) providing a small monthly cash stipend to be spent under the direction of each student's YEP worker;
6) upon successfull completion of each school year, holding in trust a bursary of $500 for post-secondary education.

$30,000.00

2013

Vancouver Humane Society

Building capacity through increased brand awareness and effective fundraising

VHS would like to build our base of supporters and donation revenues. There are a number of initiatives for which we require funding in order to accomplish this goal, including:
1. design and distribute facebook ads to increase our followers and constituent base;
2. design and distribute image macros - photographs that include a statement or caption about an issue - to increase peer sharing of our campaign issues and grow our grass roots supporters (this project also requires training in Adobe Photoshop and purchase of software);
3. launch an e-newletter to distribute via email and mailchimp;
4. subscribe for 1 year to Give2Gether, an online fundraising service recommended by the BCSPCA to help convert onlin followers/constituents into donors (The BCSPCA began using Give2Gether in 2011. By 2013, they saw a 2000% increase in revenues, a 171% increase in average gift size and a 3700% increase in new donors. Other humane societies have also had success);
5. register with MMC Canada for Raisers Edge audit and training courses.

$8,329.00

2014

Website CMS and internet fundraising training

This is a capacity-building project, which aims to upgrade employees' skills in web-based environments such as content management systems (CMSs) and internet fundraising. We are seeking funding for courses on the programs Photoshop and Wordpress as well as internet fundraising training which is offered by Canadian experts in the field at Harvey McKinnon Associates (HMA). This will coincide and complement our current website redesign/upgrade, which is currently in progress.

VHS is seeking funding in order to upgrade two software programs that are crucual to our program operations. The first program upgrade will update the Windows compatibility and feature enhancements of our fundraising database software. The second upgrade will update the content management software for our Chicken OUT! website to a simpler program that can be used by in-house staff instead of outsourcing to contractors.

$6,040.00

2012

ChickenOUT!

Initiated in 2002, the goal of Chicken OUT! is to improve the quality of life for the millions of egg-laying hens that are raised in small wire (battery) cages in BC and Canada. We produce, gather and share research on the cruelty involved in raising hens in battery cages to educate the public about alternative cage-free production systems that offer higher welfare and thus improved life quality for hens. We believe that if people understand the issues, they will make choices that favour the purchase of more humane cage-free eggs. In addition to encouraging individual consumers, Chicken OUT! works with universities, municipalities and food businesses to adopt cage-free egg purchasing policies for campus and city-run food service facilities, restaurants and grocery stores. This growing public interest in cage-free eggs will in turn encourage more egg producers to transition to cage-free production methods, and thus reduce the suffering of egg-laying hens.

$10,000.00

2011

Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra Society

The Composers' Intercultural Kitchen

The project brings 6 established composers of contemporary classical music together with a mixed group of professional musicians from Western classical, Chinese & Persian musical traditions, who are specialists in intercultural music. Using an innovative workshop format developed by the VICO, composers will work with musicians & 4 workshop leaders (all experienced intercultural composers) to acquire new knowledge & skills in writing for combinations of Western & non-Western instruments. Each composer will produce a 5-10 min. piece, to be premiered in VICO's 2015-2016 season. The project bridges a gap of knowledge & understanding between composers in the classical/new music scene & performers in Vancouver's world music scene. While both groups are working at a high level, they are unacquainted with (and often feel alienated by) each other's artistic practices. This project will provide valuable training & experience for composers & performers; increase mutual cultural awareness & respect; and lay groundwork for future collaborations that truly reflect BC's cultural diversity.

$20,120.00

2013

Vancouver International Children's Festival Society

Me on the Map (MOTM)

A multi-media installation performance about city living and civic responsibility sourced from real children's experiences. A two-phase project, in Phase 1 (2012/13) artists Adrienne Wong and Jan Derbyshire will engage with children ages 4-12 in workshops to discover how kids view the city and their own place within it.
We are requesting support for Phase 2 (2013/14), where the artists will synthesize the workshop material into a 30 minute narrative play and multi-media installation. The audience will enter a 3-dimensional performance environment envisioned as a small-scale city. There will be portholes to peer into and at the centre a child (played by an actor) adventures through the city, encountering obstacles and allies and, ultimately, discovers her place on the map. The performance environment will be designed with inclusivity at the core, making assistive technologies like audio description an integral part of the performance and not a clunky add-on for patrons with disabilities. The environment also doubles as an installation that kids can explore themselves.

$20,000.00

2013

Vancouver International Dance Festival Society

Gathering Project

The project that we are proposing is a gathering of contemporary Aboriginal and culturally diverse dance artists from across Canada with the purpose of sharing our artistic practices and our methods of disseminating our artistic practices with each other. We will do this by inviting over forty dance artists/companies to come to Vancouver to take part in the gathering.
The gathering will take place over a six day period in the month of March, 2013 during the Vancouver International Dance Festival. During this week, we will use the Roundhouse Performance Centre and the Roundhouse Exhibition Hall as open spaces that will offer alternating sessions of performances and discussion.
We expect that this gathering will result in the development of an active and mutually supportive network of Aboriginal and culturally diverse contemporary dance artists' network that increasingly helps one another to get their artistic creations seen by more people outside of their own communities.

$25,000.00

2012

Vancouver International Writers Festival Society

Vancouver International Writers Festival Reading Series

The Vancouver International Writers Festival proposes to establish a year-round reading series in partnership with the Vancouver Public Library. Each year the series will host approximately 20 free events in the Alice McKay room at the central branch, including on-stage interviews, panel discussions and readings. There will be fiction, non-fiction, poetry, crime, science fiction/fantasy, travel, graphic novels and zines. The Festival will record the events and make them available on their website.

$17,000.00

2010

Vancouver Island Compassion Dogs Society

Assessing the Effectiveness of Team Training Veterans diagnosed with PTSD and their Service Dogs

PTSD is prevalent among veterans of the military and RCMP. VICD helps veterans cope with many self-destructive and anti-social behaviors symptomatic of PTSD by matching dogs with veterans and training them as a team to achieve BC service dog certification. VICD’s team- training model is innovative and produces improvements to veterans’ mental health and their interactions with family members and society. VICD will evaluate and document the best practices of its program. Based on the evidence, service dog trainers can improve their programs, and government agencies that fund and provide veteran health care will be able to make informed decisions about policies addressing PTSD treatment.

$10,000.00

2017

Vancouver Island Symphony

Send a Symphony Musician to School Program

A new 3-year collaboration has been established between VIS and School Districts #68 Nanaimo-Ladysmith; SD#71 Comox Valley; SD#72 Campbell River; and private schools.
Send a Symphony Musician to School Program assigns one musician to each school in our Education Partnership. Their role is to be our ambassadors for the Vancouver Island Symphony and to perform for and inform the Grade 4 students about the orchestra and how it works. Schools often have the entire school attend the musician's presentation, expanding the music education experience to hundreds of students from K-5.
In the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 seasons there will be 63 visits per season from a professional musician to a partnering school (33 visits to SD #68 and private schools; 15 visits to SD #71; and 15 visits to SD #72). Professional musicians will be paid $150 per visit and the Coordinator will allocate 125 hours each season to coordinate visits and to look after the administration of promotion, printing, evaluations, etc. The budget for 2014-2016 is $22,900, we are requesting $9000 from the Vancouver Foundation.

$9,000.00

2014

Vancouver Island University

Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program

The “Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program" offers prison-based post-secondary academic courses to groups composed of both university students (hereinafter called outside learners) and incarcerated students (hereinafter called inside learners) who learn together. Founded in 1997 in Philadelphia by one university professor inspired by one incarcerated man, the program is based on the simple hypothesis that incarcerated men and women and college/university learners might mutually benefit from studying together as peers. Together, they build classroom communities based on dialogue, collaboration and serious, shared inquiry. The Inside-Out Program places a human face on justice issues while giving both inside and outside learners a powerful academic and experiential learning opportunity, grounded in a philosophy recognizing that each human being has innate worth and a story to tell. Expansion of Inside-Out into Canada offers the chance to implement and evaluate the program’s impact in a country with a different population and systems. VIU will be among the first five universities in Canada, and the second Criminology department, to offer Inside-Out, building on the successful experiences of over 140 US universities and colleges.

$30,000.00

2015

Prevention and Preservation

This project aims to revitalize First Nations cultural practices and preserve cultural knowledge in a digital medium while increasing community research capacity. Aboriginal youth will document the knowledge of their elders on issues related to health, lifestyle and community history, and transmit this knowledge to other youth. The project will enhance intergenerational knowledge-sharing and connection to community while promoting healthy lifestyles. It will also enhance the capacity of youth to engage in digital media, create digital stories, and develop facilitation and research skills. The project’s long-term goal is to reduce the disproportionate number of individuals in First Nations communities suffering from diabetes and other chronic diseases.

$145,300.00

2011

Vancouver Island University Foundation

Complications from our sedentary lifestyles are seen as the main culprit behind this life expectancy decline. Too much screen time, an unfounded culture of fear that deem it unsafe to allow our children to play outdoors unsupervised and the absence of the simple acts of walking or riding one's bike to school are just some of the contributing issues. However it is the loss of elementary school physical education specialists that is probably the most significant factor in this demise.
As a result, the fundamental skills necessary to be able to fully participate in physical activity are seen to be lacking in a growing number of children and young adults to the point where their physical health is in jeopardy. For many children, the lack of fundamental skills makes even basic physical activities an unpleasant experience thereby contributing to an even more sedentary society and putting increased pressure on an already burgeoning health care system. Just as literacy and numeracy are deemed essential tools for success in the 21st century, there are fractions within the health, education, and recreation sectors who maintain that enhancing a community's appreciation for physical literacy is essential to stem the advancing obesity epidemic.

$10,000.00

2013

Vancouver Maritime Museum

Lured

In Lured, visitors explore all aspects of the sea and its eternal draw. It steps into the life of those who are lured to the sea for their livelihood and touches on the economic and social impact on Vancouver - a port city.
Lured will be presented as two unique, but complimentary exhibits, each with different components and elements yet linked through the individual works of three artists and their interpretation of common themes. The underlying themes include: globalization and economics - who works on the cargo ships in our harbour and who provides seafarer's social safety net.
The artists, Allan Sekula , Stan Douglas and Uriel Orlow, are renowned both locally and internationally. Using the artists existing work, and tying into the museum's multidimensional objects and archival materials, the exhibit will look at the evolution of container shipping and its profound impact socially and economically on the city of Vancouver.
We are pleased to have Vancouver based artist Stan Douglas participate in this unique project.

$10,000.00

2012

Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra Society

The VMO is dedicated to the artistic, personal and professional development of outstanding young musicians. We create opportunities for talented young musicians to perform with the mentorship of seasoned professionals in front of live audiences. These are opportunities these young gifted musicians may not have otherwise had. We see the untapped potential in people caught between being professional musicians and music students. Many of these young musicians need a stepping-stone to embark on their professional musical career, and that’s what we do.
Development Opportunities
The VMO provides:
mentorship of experienced professional musicians via live, public performances,
instructional seminars, classes and workshops led by experts within the music profession.
In the past eleven years, the VMO has helped launch the careers of many young talents who are now performing with renowned musical organizations around the world. As a testimonial to the success of the VMO, many of our alumni have continued their involvement with the organization by becoming a VMO mentor.
We will provide additional sectional, master class and rehearsal prior to each concert. There are three different ways that we are able to equip our students towards a better musical knowledge and understanding of classical works. With the added sectional, master class and rehearsal, we are stressing a stronger focus towards mentorship between our young musicians and sectional-leaders.

$10,000.00

2015

Vancouver Moving Theatre Society

Black Strathcona Interactive Project

Black Strathcona is an innovative, interactive new media project celebrating Vancouver's vibrant black community that flourished in the East End neighbourhood of Strathcona (1920's -1970's). The project will consist of ten to twelve short video stories, highlighting the rich and cultural heritage of the community. The video stories will be presented by professionals and combines storytelling with rarely seen archival photographs and brings to life aspects of the community's history in the location it occurred.
The project provides two access opportunities: 1) by a standard website where users can take a virtual tour of the culture, history, and personalities from anywhere in the world, and, 2) by using a mobile device such as a smart phone, anyone can access the rapidly downloadable 'mobile' site. The mobile website displays a map of the Strathcona neighbourhood with markers depicting the locations of the video stories. Viewers scan the QR codes that downloads 'a' video story onto their device. eg. Springfield Stories, www.SpringfieldStories.com Username: guest Password: letmein2011

$37,000.00

2012

The V6A Project - A Downtown Eastside Community Art Resource

Using stories and images of individual theatre projects, Vancouver Moving Theatre Society aims to raise the profile of the Downtown Eastside as an artistically complex, culturally rich community. They will create a 40-page illustrated booklet featuring seven watershed productions from 2002 to 2010, as well as a visual exhibit, website and a PowerPoint presentation. The booklet will be distributed to community partners, educational institutions, funding bodies, elected officials and Canadian colleagues.

$10,000.00

2010

Vancouver Native Health Society

Innovating a Primary Healthcare System to Reduce Structural Violence

The social innovation of this project is the inclusion of Indigenous Elders in genuine partnership with primary care providers in urban clinic environments. Although this sounds simple, genuine partnership with Indigenous Elders necessitates tackling the systemic challenges of discordant values and epistemologies, that underlie the perpetuation of structural violence and associated lack of infrastructure and resources for Indigenous health services. Although this process has already begun at VNHS, there are still significant system challenges that need to be addressed.
VNHS's attempt to address systemic challenges will include creating more opportunities for Elders, primary care providers, community members, and administrators to engage in meaningful dialogue. The dialogue will focus on establishing a clear set of shared health system values and identifying and addressing causes of structural violence. Resources can then be used to draft a shared clinic mission statement, and collaboratively seek solutions to systemic barriers such as inadequate space for ceremony within the clinic. We also aim to foster increased opportunities for meaningful participation by patients, community members, clinic staff and physicians in Elder-led ceremonies, which we have identified as a key cultural process with strong potential to diminish power inequalities.